


Lèirsinn dhen àm ri teachd - Jamie Firsts

by bs2sjh



Series: Lèirsinn dhen àm ri teachd [2]
Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (2008), Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: 21st Century living, F/M, Jamie Firsts, one shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-06 12:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15886455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bs2sjh/pseuds/bs2sjh
Summary: A collection of little scenes set in 'Lèirsinn dhen àm ri teachd - A Vision of the Future'. Jamie's got a lot of things to get used to in the 21st Century. Here are some missing scenes showing him experiencing some firsts. You will need to have read 'Lèirsinn dhen àm ri teachd' to understand what's going on.





	1. Jamie's First Trainers

**Author's Note:**

> A little look at Jamie as he is given his first pair of trainers. Set during the three weeks when Claire is having her time out, he realises that he's not alone and has other friends who are there for him.

I’d been on the new ward for a couple of days when Joe popped by with a box under his arm. I’d spent most of my time so far being shown how to tae attend to ma more personal needs. How tae take a shower and clean maself properly amongst other things too embarrassing to talk about. Being shown by someone how tae take a pish was not somethin’ I ever wish tae go through agin let alone how to rid myself of other bodily waste. It had been a tough couple of days already and I was only at the beginning.

Joe had taken time to visit me each day so far, makin’ sure I had everythin’ I needed and speakin’ wi’ the nurses to see if there was anythin’ else I might require. It was this that brought him tae see me today. He smiled as he walked towards me. I was sat in ma wheelchair reading one of the books he had given me. It was a book on Scottish history – superficial but enjoyable enough. It was goin’ through the politics leadin’ up to the first Jacobite rising. I kent the details myself but it was interesting tae see what they thought now.

“Afternoon, Jamie. And how are you today?” I put the book down and smiled in return. Joe was always cheerful and it was hard to not smile when he was around. My heart didna feel sae happy though. I had still nae word of Claire. Was she thinkin’ o’ me, as I wa’ of her?

“Well. You?” He sat on my bed facing me, the box now beside him.

“I’m great. What they been teaching you today then?” I could feel my face blush as I looked away not wishin’ te recount ma lessons from the mornin’. “Oh, ok. I take it you now know how to use a catheter then.”

“Aye.” He laughed and patted me on the shoulder.

“You’ll get over being so embarrassed I’m sure.” I looked at him and raised an eyebrow dubiously. “Nah, you will. It’s a perfectly normal process, just you need a little help instead. I’m sure once you’ve been doing it a while, you’ll think nothing of it.” I nodded, releasing a sigh.

“Sae much get used.” He nodded and reached for the box beside him.

“Well, looks like a perfect opportunity for another little gift, to cheer you up a bit. For your physiotherapy tomorrow.” I looked at him and at the box as he handed it to me.

“Nae gifts, Joe. Kind tae much.” I let the box rest on my knees, trying to understand the words printed on the outside. Reebok? What kind o’ word wa’ that?

“Nonsense. You need stuff and between me, Malva and John, we’ll get you kitted out in no time.” I smiled sadly. Nae Claire anymore. “Hey, don’t go gettin’ all sad. You’ve got three people who care for you Jamie and that’s a good deal more than when you were brought in here.” I smiled and nodded.

“Aye. Joe, Malva, John, good friends.” I looked down at the box agin and took off the lid. Inside were shoon the likes of which I’d ne’er seen afore. They werena leather, but a type of shiny fabric wi’ lots o’ little holes. They had laces up the front but they it wa’ the colour that struck me. They were blue with red and white stripes criss-crossed along the side. The soles were white and thicker than normal. “What the devil?”

“They’re trainers. Please tell me you’ve had trainers before.” I shook ma head, lifting one out of the box finding it to be far lighter than I expected.

“Nah. Nae ‘trainers’.” He laughed again and shook his head in surprise.

“Jamie? Where on Earth have you been hiding all your life?” I quirked one side of my mouth in a half smile, making sure to not meet his eye with mine. “Right, well. I had to guess your size so let’s see if they fit, huh?” I nodded and he retrieved some of the socks that ‘she’ had brought me.

I struggled to pull on the socks, not realising how hard it was when you couldna flex your feet to point them in the right direction, but I managed wi nae help. Joe had redone the laces on the ‘trainers’ whilst I was fighting wi’ the socks and handed one tae me when I wa’ ready. A few minutes later, and I wa’ wearing a new pair of blue trainers.

“Comfortable?” I turned to look at Joe, raising an eyebrow as I did. “Sorry, force of habit.” I smiled a little to let him know I took nae offense at his slip. He bent down and pressed along the front of the trainers. “Well, they seem to be the right size which is good, I don’t know what I’d have done if you needed a size bigger. These are already a 14, I don’t think many brands go up much bigger. That sound familiar?” I shrugged, all ma shoes had been made for me before. They always fit well. “Well, seems you shall go to the ball Cinderella!”

I kent the story he was referring too having read it in French whilst livin’ in Paris. Cendrillon had already been to the ball by this point in the story though. “Nae Prince, Joe.” He laughed at this and sat back on the bed.

We talked for a while longer before he stood to leave. He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “You take care tomorrow, Jamie. Don’t go getting anymore injuries in your first physiotherapy session, will you?”

“Try not.”

My first two physiotherapy sessions went well. I was taught how to get from the bed to ma wheelchair and back. I smiled wi’ relief as I didna need to be hoisted or assisted in and out o’ bed anymore and suddenly, I felt a lot more independent, human, normal. I was gettin’ better at steering the wheelchair, manoeuvring it around furniture and through doors and to now be able to get in and out of bed brought a real smile to ma’ face for the first time in a while.

“Why Jamie, is that a smile I can see?” John walked intae the room and my smile widened. I saw the chess-set under his arm and our usual bottle of whisky. We’d been sharing it for a while, only small drinks to not upset all the drugs I wa’ takin’ but it was our secret.

“Aye, tis.”

“Go on then, tell me why you’re smiling.” I shook ma head.

“Nah. See.” It was clumsy and not sae smooth but I got from my wheelchair intae bed wi’out anyone to help. I looked at him, smiling and he gave a round of applause, a huge smile on his face too.

“Well, I must say Jamie, that is progress. You feel better for being able to do that?”

“Much.”

“And I see Joe went for the blue trainers! Good. I knew you’d like those ones best. He wanted plain black but I suggested some colour. Cheerful.” I looked down at my hands, overcome for a second that Joe and John had actually had a conversation about which trainers I would prefer. “What’s wrong?” He sat in the chair beside the bed and looked at me, trying to see my face.

“Just, good friends. Make me better. Ken?” I looked up and begged him to understand what I was tryin’ tae say.

“Yes, we are good friends. All of us. We’ll look after you. Make sure you’re safe.” I nodded and looked down again, swallowin’ the lump in ma throat.

“Hard. Not real man now…”

“Don’t say that. Not ever. You are. You’ve been dealt a bit of a setback. That’s all.” He moved to sit on the bed beside me now.

“But, Claire…”

“Needs to do some thinking. She’ll come around. I know she will.” He patted the back of ma hand and smiled. I gave him a small smile in return.

“Blue nice. Black dull.” He laughed and gave my hand a squeeze before standing again.

“I knew you’d prefer them! Right, let’s have a wee dram and play some chess shall we?” I winced at his terrible accent and nodded. Game after game of chess, I beat him time and time agin. Whisky was drunk and we laughed the evening away. Ma heart not once stopping missing Claire, wondering which colour trainers she would have chosen for me.


	2. John and Jamie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire mentions that she's known John loved Jamie since the first time she saw them together. So when was that and what did she think about it?

I could hear the voice before I arrived at the ward door. Jamie was laughing at something John was saying. I’d never seen the two of them together before. Only ever separately. John and I knew each other through a colleague who I had trained with. He had spoken highly of John as a mentor and as a neurosurgeon, so I could think of no-one better to treat Jamie when I found him all those weeks ago.

I had half expected Jamie to still be sleeping. We’d talked well into the evening the day before, after I finally plucked up the courage to see him again after my three-week absence. I knew it had been hard on Jamie, could see the stress lines around his eyes, the sparkle that had started to return with his treatment was missing once again, his mouth didn’t volunteer his beautiful smile just as readily as before. As the evening has progressed though, the smile returned more, his eyes softened and the glimmer of hope began to return. I knew he would struggle to trust me again, that I might disappear once more would pray on his mind. But I was determined to try, for both our sakes.

I stopped along the corridor, looking through the door but remaining unseen. John was sat on Jamie’s bed and Jamie was in his wheelchair. They were playing chess again, a ritual that Jamie told me all about, flushed with excitement and enthusiasm for his new friend. I observed them, watched how Jamie’s smile lit up his entire face, how his posture was so much more relaxed than it had been with me last night. He made a move and grinned at John, knowing that it was a good one. He laughed as John groaned and knocked his king over, conceding defeat.

I watched as John stood and slapped Jamie on the back, pronouncing it a solid victory. He sat down again then, the board ignored once more. They sat facing each other, the smiles fading as they conversed quietly. I could hazard a guess as to the subject of their discourse; me. Jamie looked down at his hands after a while, the same look of doubt and fear on his features as I saw the previous evening. He was confessing his doubts about me, his worry that I would abandon him again.

John reached out hesitantly before taking Jamie’s hand in his own. He moved so that he was once again in Jamie’s line of sight before continuing. His voice was quiet, calm, soothing. He spoke to reassure, to comfort, to calm Jamie’s fears. It wasn’t the voice of a doctor to his patient. It wasn’t the touch of a friend. They were the actions of a lover. The voice of someone who felt deeply for the person they were walking to.

I looked away. I knew Jamie didn’t reciprocate the sentiments. He spoke of John with a tone of deep and trusted friendship, not with the tone a man in love would use. I was relieved and disquieted at the same time. John was in love with Jamie. It was all so clear now, the more than regular visits, the chess games, the things he had brought to make Jamie’s life a little easier. I was thankful for him in some respects. He had taken care of my Highlander whilst I was having a crisis, had been there for him when I had not. He’d listened to Jamie and supported him through the start of his rehabilitation. But where did we all fit now?

I walked away, letting their voices get fainter and quieter with each step. Jamie loved me of that I was certain, and I was so thankful for that. As I left them behind, my heart ached a little for John. There could only be one winner in this situation, and I was glad it was me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short I know. I'm really struggling for time to write at the moment with work and everything else but I'll try to keep up to something once a week. Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> What colour would you have chosen? Let me know!


End file.
